Babies Online - The Blog

Review: Sittercity.com

Every so often I get to review something that I’m really excited about, but this one has me humming that old Pointer Sisters song that goes something like this: I’m so excited, and I just can’t hide it….

My husband leaves in a couple of days for a year-long military deployment. We don’t have any family members nearby so I do rely quite heavily on babysitters to give me breaks whenever my husband is gone. As my babysitter pool shrinks, what with one going off to college and another getting a job across town, I find myself wondering what I can do in order to meet some great babysitters who are reliable, responsible and fun.

That’s why I was so eager to try Sittercity.com. It’s an online service that allows you to post a babysitting job (or a pet sitter job, or a house sitter job, or basically any type of sitter job) and sift through the responses until you find the best sitter available. There is also a database of babysitters (some of whom have already had criminal background checks conducted – yay!) that you can look at and find out great information:

How far is the sitter from your house?

What education and experience does the sitter have?

What wage does the sitter expect to earn?

What is the sitter’s availability?

It’s almost like a dating website, but instead of a date you’re looking for someone to watch your kids.

It was really easy to get started. I registered with the site and paid my fee and had immediate access to the directory of babysitters. I narrowed my search by the job title I was hiring for – I chose “Mother’s Helper” because I really just need someone to come and play with the kids while I work – and by the proximity to my house. I downloaded a picture of us and created a profile, and then I posted a job using the system.

Voila! The next morning I had three messages from potential babysitters and I was thrilled. I really liked how the messages weren’t too terribly anonymous because I had the ability to look at the sitter’s profile. I’m also glad that I picked the annual membership because this means I have a huge pool of babysitters to choose from for the entire time my husband is deployed.

A huge pool of babysitters to choose from? That’s music to my ears.

If you want to give it a try, use this promotion code: babies10

The code will get you 10% off and it’s exclusive to BabiesOnline readers. Look for my follow up review after I have had a chance to actually meet with some babysitters and have them play with my kids for a while.

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Posted by Tamsen Butler on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 at 1:24 pm and is filed under Reviews.
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